Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy and the Servant of the Dark Lord
by theorderofthefandoms
Summary: Set in a slightly AU during Harry Potters 5thish year at Hogwarts. Harry Potter finds himself being drawn to his former arch-enemy Draco Malfoy. In the mean time, a new kind of evil has gotten itself into Hogwarts. As usual, it's up to Harry to find out what, and why. Now with a new sidekick, Harry plunges headfirst into new dangers and previously unexplored parts of his emotions.
1. The Midnight Meeting

I'm walking fast, almost running. In my hurry, I'm barely aware of where I'm going. My body is guiding me automatically, my feet leading me through deserted passages, up flights of stairs and through hidden shortcuts. My mind is too preoccupied to pay attention to my surroundings. I barely glance at the stairs beneath me as I automatically skip the ones that my legs will sink into and get stuck in. Having walked up and down these stairs for so many years, I know each and every one of them. Even in the dark. It is late at night and I have not passed a single living soul since exiting the Griffindor common room. I did pass Peeves ambitiously filling the corridor outside charms class with soapy water. Thanks to my invisibility cloak, he doesn't see me and I manage to turn around just in time to avoid slipping. The students who have charms first thing in the morning tomorrow will be in for a nasty surprise as they turn the corner.

My heart starts beating faster as I climb the last staircase leading to the fifth floor. My whole body seems to light up and buzz with excitement. Sneaking out of my dormitory had proven to be harder than I'd anticipated. Both Ron and Dean had been up finishing homework when I left and after their refusal to let me pass without an explanation, I'd been forced to go back upstairs to get my invisibility cloak. I feel bad about lying to Ron and I don't think he believes me when I say I'm going back to bed again. I even think I catch him glancing at the entrance hole when I pushed open the portrait door and climb through. I'll have to think of an excuse tomorrow. He is my best friend, but this has to be kept a secret. Not only for my sake. The corridor is completely dark except for the pale slivers of moonlight passing through the windows. The walls are bare, except for a large tapestry halfway down the hall. I walk up to it and stop, facing the life-size image of a group of wizards sitting around a long table. The only sound I can hear is that of my own beating heart, which to me seems loud enough to wake up the entire castle. I pull the invisibility cloak off me and stuff it into my pocket. Then I take a deep breath to steady all the anxieties that have suddenly blossomed up inside of me. I'm almost ten minutes late. What is he's not still there? I pull aside the tapestry and duck behind it. For a moment, all I see is utter darkness. But as my eyes start to adjust to the gloom, I let out a relieved sigh. Looming in the darkness in front of me, pale as the moon suspended in a dark sky is a face I'd recognize anywhere. The hair is as pale-blonde as it has always been. The eyes which always seem to be hiding something new are mysterious and gleaming with trickery. I think I see something light up in them as I step into his line of vision. A moment later it's gone, and the thin face is once again stone-blank. I look down at my feet to keep myself revealing all the emotions which must be written so clearly on my face. I feel his intense gaze on me and the excited buzzing inside my body intensifies. I wonder what he sees when he looks at me.

"Took you a while to get here" his voice gives nothing away. "Had some trouble on the way?"

"Not really trouble, Peeves was soaping up the charms corridor. Watch out for that tomorrow."

"Gotcha," he says, his mouth quirking up into a lop-sided grin. There is a moment of silence.

"I don't think we should do this anymore" I say finally.

"Gosh, Potter that makes it sounds so serious. It's not like we're in some kind of secret relationship," Draco replies. "We're just two guys who sometimes spend time together in a secret room in the dead of the night. Oh and then we ignore each other during the days" he finishes with a slight smile. "Wait that does sound like a secret relationship"

"I'm serious Draco. People will find out and that's what they will think. That we're just some lovebirds who are afraid of what everyone will think."

"And that's not what we are?"

"Lovebirds? Or afraid of what people will think?"

"I don't know" Draco's voice is hesitant. "I don't even know why I'm here. It's just-" he suddenly breaks off looking scared.

"Did you hear that?" he whispers.

"Hear what?" I wonder. In response, he frowns at me, as if telling me to be quiet. Then I hear it too. Heavy steps coming from the corridor just outside the tapestry. Definitely the steps of an adult. We both tense.

"Filch?" He mouths at me.

"No" I mouth back. I've been caught wandering around the castle enough to recognize his ragged breathing and his labored steps. Whoever is outside the tapestry is not making a sound except for the footsteps. And the footsteps themselves don't sound familiar. Silently I drag the invisibility cloak from my pocket. Malfoy gazes in wonder at the shimmery flowing cloth. Then he takes his place beside me and I throw the cloak over us. It is barely big enough to cover our combined bulk. We end up standing shoulder to shoulder, hulking to keep our feet from showing. Together we back up awkwardly towards the wall. I am aware of every part of my body that is touching his. His skin feels warm and smooth, tense. I can hear feel his breathing on my neck. I try to make me body relax, but it is reluctant to agree. Suddenly there is a flash of light. The tapestry is blasted open. The darkness around us feels heavier, more pressing. A cold breeze floats through the room. Malfoy is clinging on to me tightly. I hold on to him, glad for the reassuring warmth of his skin. It feels like we're now occupying half the amount of space that we were before. I force myself to to take calming breaths despite the familiar sense of panic the chilly breeze brought with it. _Dementors_ I think. Dementors, here in Hogwarts. The numbing cold has already started to paralyze me and the faint screaming is growing louder and louder in my head. With a huge effort of will I unfreeze my fingers and close them around my wand. I take a steadying breath; picture Ron and Hermione, spending the summer with them at the Burrow, readying myself to cast the spell. But suddenly the icy cold doesn't feel so numbing anymore. The screaming in my head grows fainter. The dementor has passed us and is heading down the corridor. I can hear the sound of receding footsteps. I breathe a sigh of relief and feel my body relaxing. Malfoy, however remains stiff as a board with a, expression of horror on his face. Then his mouth opens and he lets out a shrill scream.


	2. Danger

Draco's shout echoes between the stone walls. I wouldn't be surprised if the Gryffindors up in their tower heard him.

"Draco shut up," I hiss. But for all the good it does, I might as well have been talking to the wall. Suddenly his scream cuts off short. His breathing is ragged and he is leaning heavily against me. There is terror written all over his face. _But why would the dementors affect him so strongly? And why not me? I am the one who passed out on the train all those years ago. _I stare I puzzlement at the pale twisted face by my side. Then I hear the sound of heavy footsteps again. This time they are coming closer. I grab Draco's hand and we start backing together into the shadows. Panic grabs at me, but I fight it off. I try to recall where this passage leads to. Is it a shortcut to the stairs leading to the seventh floor? Or is it a dead end? Silently, I curse the fact that I'd decided to leave the marauders map back in my trunk. Slowly, step by step we move through the pressing darkness. I hold my breath, dreading the sensation of the hard stone wall at my back. The dementor has reached the shredded tapestry. I start to feel the supernatural cold in my chest, spreading outwards. But the voice in my head sounds different this time. It's not the haunting last screams of my mother, but a high cold hiss. Suddenly my heels hit something hard. There is a wall behind us. A cold stone wall. My pulse quickens as the panic starts to set in. We are stuck here, backed up against a wall while the strange footsteps and the icy cold coming closer and closer. I grip my want tightly.

"Draco" I whisper. "Draco can you make a patronus?" he mumbles something incoherent in response.

"What?"

"It's not a dementor, Potter. Patronuses won't help us" his voice is weaker than usual but it still contains the familiar spark of arrogance.

"So what the hell is it then?" I snap back. The thing (whatever it is) is visible as a dark spot, a shade deeper than the surrounding darkness. The icy chill and numbing feeling of despair are both clear indicators of dementors. But the footsteps and the absence of their rattling breaths are not. _Could Malfoy be right?_

"I have no idea, what that is. And personally, I'm not very inclined to find out."

"We need to run. Past that thing, whatever it is. And then we'll go straight to Dumbledore" The hissing is getting louder in my ears and now I can make out some words; _…lose everything… dark side… Harry… Harry Potter... _It's taking every shred of willpower to stay on my feet.

"Past that _thing_?" His voice betrays his fear.

"Yes" I say. "On three." And before I lose my nerve, I grab his cold, sweaty hand in mine and whisper "three!" We both surge forward, towards the robe-clad creature in front of us. Malfoy is quicker than me and he passes it first. When he's just a foot away, he stumbles and then disappears into the darkness. I quicken my pace. The creature, which at first appeared startled, has regained composure. I plunge headfirst into the cold by its side. Darkness is all around me. My eyes feel like they're about to pop out of their sockets. Icy hands are clamped around my chest, pressing the life out of me. Suddenly I can't remember why I want to live anymore. The whispering in my head is louder than ever. _Why are you fighting? Why do you resist him so? He can show you all your hearts deepest desires. His might is nothing anybody can ever stand up to. You only have to stop fighting…_ I gasp, about to tell the voice inside my head that I'm ready to surrender to it. Because, like it said fighting is stupid…

Suddenly the darkness is less compressing. I feel like I'm stumbling out of a dark cloud. There are hands clasped around my chest. But they're not ice cold, and they're not squeezing the life out of me. The hands belong to Draco Malfoy, who is dragging me along behind him, sprinting down the corridor. I think right then, that I have never been happier to see him. As we reach the corner of the transfiguration corridor, stops running. We are quiet for a while, gasping for air.

"You had…"He is struggling to find words. "You stopped running," his eyes are wide and fixed on my face. I flush, feeling the color wash my cheeks.

"Yeah, it…I…."

"It talked to you, didn't it?" His voice is hushed. "It talked to me too…"

"Yeah…" I look down at my feet. "We should probably go find Dumbledore…"

"Oh, sure" He looks sheepishly at me. "I mean yes, we should." We set off in silence. The walk to the headmaster's office seems twice as long as it usually is. Several times we glance at each other, but none of us speak until we reach the large stone gargoyle.

"Umm, there's a password right?" Malfoy looks uncertainly at me. With a jolt I realize I have no idea what the password to the office might be.

"Er, you don't think you could just let us pass?" I ask the gargoyle, feeling stupid even as I say it. Nothing happens. It just keeps looking down at me with an irritatingly prudent expression.

"Nice try there Potter" Malfoy smirks.

"I guess we'll just have to wait here for a bit" I reply defensively.

"What, and have Filch skin us alive when he finds us? I think I'd rather go back to bed." Just as I'm about to reply, the stairs leading up to the office start moving. The gargoyle moves aside and out steps none other than Dembledore himself, wearing a deep blue shiny nightgown and a curious expression on his face.

"May I ask what the two of you are doing here at" he looks at his watch, "precisely one thirty at night?"

"Professor we had to come see you" I say quickly. "In the fifith-floor corridor there was a- but wait. How did you know we were here?"

"Never you mind that, Harry. I happen to have an exceptional knowledge of what goes on in this castle. Now you were saying something about the fifth floor? Something which I happen to know nothing about."

"There was this thing, like a dementor but still not-"

"A dementor? Inside this castle" The old man's face drains of all color. "But why?" he says softly to himself.

"I don't know sir. It just found us and we were able to run from it"

Dumbledore's eyes swiveled to Malfoy upon which they widened in surprise.

"This tale just gets odder and odder," he says, eyes twinkling. "First dementors in Hogwarts, and now it seems as if Mr. Potter is finally getting along with Mr. Malfoy." Draco flashes me a look but none of us says a word.

"You two had better fill me in on this as we go" With that, Dumbledore turns around and heads off in the direction of the fifth floor. With nothing else to do, Malfoy and I follow along in the wake of his shimmering nightgown.


End file.
